Chile may have received a boost ahead of their crunch World Cup qualifying match against Argentina, with Alexis Sanchez reportedly fit to play.
The star striker scored in Arsenal s 3-1 Premier League defeat to West Brom on Saturday but had to be substituted in the second half after finding himself on the wrong end of a heavy James McClean tackle.
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger delivered a grim initial prognosis, claiming the forward s ankle had been left in an absolutely terrible state .
But the 28-year-old former Barcelona player has nevertheless travelled to South America for his country s matches away to Argentina and at home to Venezuela.
And a report in El Grafico claims a member of the Chile national team s medical staff has declared that Sanchez is likely to be fit to take on Edgardo Bauza s side in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
We ve got an update on s ankle after he was substituted in
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal)
Copa America holders Chile occupy the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot in the CONMEBOL group.
Argentina are a point below them in fifth place, a berth which would require the mighty Albiceleste, beaten finalists against Germany at the previous World Cup in Brazil in 2014, to suffer the indignity of negotiating the inter-confederation play-offs if they are to reach the finals in Russia next year.